A Guide to Writing Pokemon Fanfiction
by iggychan89
Summary: This is a guide to writing Pokemon fanfiction! It is short, but more will be added to it in the future!


**A/N:** Don't worry guys, I've been slowly working on chapter 10 of The Dragon Tamer, this is just something quick I want to put out there to (hopefully) get better Pokemon stories out to readers. Prepare for a lot of sassy remarks! This is for English fic writers only by the way.

**A Guide to Writing Pokemon Fanfiction**

**PART 1:**

**1.** There's a lot of Pokemon stories out there that are nothing but high school romance stories. Really? I mean REALLY? The Pokemon franchise is about travelling across regions with creatures capable of beating the crap out of each other and people want to write high school romance fics? These abominations are an insult to Pokemon! Don't get me wrong, writing romance fics is perfectly fine, but incorporate it into the plot of a story, don't make it the MAIN plot. I can just see the poor little Pokemon sitting in the corner of my computer screen wondering when they will appear in the story.

Pokemon fics should be about adventure, exploring new areas, getting stronger as a trainer and as a person as the journey goes on. Just like... Oh I don't know, the games and Anime? Though the Anime is crap, so I approve 100% of stories that improve on it! Unless of course the stories are so horribly written they are impossible to read without your head exploding from the sheer awfulness of the spelling and grammar. We'll get to grammar and spelling later though.

Case in point, write adventure fics. They are fun to write and certainly make you think more than you usually do when writing them. Not to mention these are the fics that are the most popular among readers. I have no idea how people don't see this, but they don't apparently.

Whether you use the main characters or your own, adventure fics are the way to go.

Now, does this mean you HAVE to write adventure fics? No, not at all, you can write whatever you want, adventure fics within the Pokemon archive are just the most popular is all, they are usually what gets a reader's attention and more likely to read your other stories.

**2.** The names of towns, cities, and Pokemon within the canon universe. I see fics where people misspell all three of these things so much I want to rip my hair out! There's also some fics where they are completely mixed up, such as people calling Lavender Town Lavender City. If you aren't sure, look it up, don't just assume, because you know the saying - assuming makes an ass out of you. Oh wait, I think "and me" was supposed to be in there, but that doesn't apply to this situation.

Pokemon names are also something I see misspelled a lot. It's "Pikachu" not "Picachu". It's "Gastly" not "Ghastly". Use Serebii or Bulbapedia if you don't know how to spell a Pokemon's name, it takes less than a minute! Don't be one of those authors I like to call a "lazy ass" in my head when I see this kind of thing.

**3.** Attack names and descriptions. Now this is a huge issue that authors have trouble with. Misspelling them, calling them the wrong name, misrepresenting them, not describing them properly, not describing them AT ALL, not describing their effects correctly, moves that aren't supposed to miss missing the opponent (I blame the Anime a lot for this one, dumbasses making moves like Aerial Ace miss), and attacks hitting a type that they aren't suppose to be able to affect, like Sludge Bomb against a Steel type. Honestly, I know there are a lot of attacks and moves out there, but at least put in the correct information on them! I don't care how you describe them as long as they resemble how the attack is supposed to look and work to an extent.

There's also this problem with attacks that have combined words, such as "Thunderbolt" and "Thundershock". I see them spelled a lot as "Thunder Shock" and "Thunder Bolt". No, just NO. Have you people who type them this way EVER play the games? Apparently not! Then what the hell are you doing typing Pokemon fanfiction? If you aren't familiar with any of this stuff, then do your damn research! I don't see this crap _nearly_ as often in other fandoms as I do in the Pokemon archive.

**4.** Levels and stats... Need a say more? I guess I will. Unless you are writing a fanfic based on one of the games or a story with an original game that you made up, then stay the hell away from levels and stats period! Levels and stats don't matter in the Anime and they shouldn't in your stories! You have no idea how many times I have told authors to remove them and stop using them, only for them to go "oh but they are there for a reason" and crap like that. Really? You just lost a reader there amigo, congratulations you dumbass.

Let me make this more clear for you. **STOP USING LEVELS AND STATS IN YOUR FANFICTION IF THEY ARE BASED ON THE ANIME UNIVERSE.**

**5.** Finally we hit on grammar, spelling, and descriptions. To start off with, let's talk about the grammar of Pokemon fics. Oh. My. God. I have never seen such horrible grammar in all my life! So many Pokemon fics have such horrible grammar they are nearly unreadable! Here's a hint: If English isn't your first language, that's fine, just get a beta reader to help you out. However, I have seen some fics where English isn't their first language but they are very fluent in the language, but they tend to keep some of the elements of their first language in, such as saying "no ways" instead of "no way". Even after pointing this out, they refuse to fix it. Stubborn little jackasses! That crap wouldn't fly with a publisher you imbecile! FIX IT, JUST FIX IT. It takes one second to hit that damn backspace key! Lazy asses.

Oh and don't get me started on those with English as their first language. Seriously, you make people with English as their second language look like Stephen King when they write! It's sad and pathetic. How anyone that bad at writing got through or get through their English classes I will never know.

OK, now on to spelling. Oh am I exasperated when it comes to this. You know, Spellcheck exists for a reason! Even this site has one when you go to edit a document in your Doc Manager. USE IT, IT ISN'T HARD. It's the little ABC button with a checkmark.

Descriptions... Oi vey. Now, obviously not everyone is going to describe everything in detail as that can get boring, but I'm not really talking about THAT kind of descriptions, oh no, what I'm talking about are stories where they describe Pokemon in detail. OK, most fans know what all the Pokemon look like, don't describe them for us! I always skip over those paragraphs as they are the most unnecessary things to ever exist in Pokemon fanfiction, aside from levels. Just don't write them down to the last hair on a Raichu's back and we'll be good friends.

**6.** Last names. Dear god above don't give a person from the Anime a last name if their last name isn't mentioned! I see so many stories where authors give the champions a last name that is EXACTLY what their Japanese name is I just want to punch a wall!

**7.** The timing and pacing of stories. Ugh, don't get me started! There are so many stories that rush through things that it doesn't build up any suspense to the plot whatsoever! Admittedly I was guilty of this with my earlier stories when I first began writing, but I have then since improved on this. It is something that takes time to learn, but it is still annoying to read!

**8.** Mary Sues and Gary Stus... Oh boy, now we're getting into one of the worst problems when it comes to ANY fanfic. Obviously, it is difficult to _not_ write your own characters as mega-powerful and perfect, but it gets really old really fast. It's perfectly fine if you lead us to believe your character is mega-ultra-chicken-powerful, but later on finding out they aren't as powerful as they appear with several faults, but don't let them BECOME and STAY a Mary Sue or Gary Stu.

**9.** The terms "pseudo-legendary" and "shiny". Oh every time I see these terms used in a story I want to choke someone. Look, "pseudo-legendary" is a fan term for the Pokemon in the games that have stats that rival a legendary Pokemon's stats, it has absolutely NO use whatsoever in a story. Every Pokemon in the Anime world is capable of becoming as strong as a legendary with enough training and dedication, it's not just limited to Dragonite and all them. You never see the characters in the show call them pseudo-legendary and neither should you.

As for the term "shiny", it is also a fan term. Well, it was until it became a game canon term in the fifth generation, but the term itself is never used within the show itself. I literally cringe every time I see this word. I use it for this guide because it's not a story, but don't use it in stories.

**10.** Making shiny Pokemon more powerful than normal Pokemon. Yeah, how about... NO! Shiny Pokemon are no different power-wise than their non-shiny counterparts. A color of a creature does not make one weaker or stronger in nature, and this applies with Pokemon as well!

**PART 2:**

**1.** Now that we got the complaining out the way, let's start on how to improve on these things. Now, there's not a whole lot I can say on adventure fics or fics in general, but I can offer advice.

One, make sure the plot and/or premise is interesting enough to grab a reader's attention. Many stories are the same, especially when it comes to smarter Ash stories, but try to make yours as unique as possible such as giving the Pokemon unique personalities and behaviors. I notice a substantial lack of this in Pokemon fics. Give a ferocious looking Pokemon a sweet personality or give a cute, sweet looking Pokemon the personality of a Gyarados. Mix it up and make it different! Hell, give a Slowpoke or an equally dopey or slow Pokemon the energy of a Jolteon for all I care! People love that crap, I know I do.

Make the trainer (or Pokemon depending on what type of adventure fic or other type of fic it is) interesting and unique as well. If you're working with Ash or some other trainer from canon, this especially applies. People want to read something different than what is canon, so don't make the character the same, that crap is boring as all hell.

If you're going with a canon character, give them unique Pokemon (perhaps even ones never given to said character before), or if you're going with the same Pokemon from the Anime, make them even better in terms of personality and power, or worse, whichever you prefer.

Readers hate having Pokemon left behind for whatever reason you leave them behind for, so unless you come up with a REALLY good explanation to release said Pokemon or what have you, don't do it. We all hated that crap in the Anime, why would you write about it?

If you're going to write about romance, make it gradually happen within your story, don't rush right into it.

**2. **Basically just look up the information on a town, city, or Pokemon if you don't know it, how hard is it? Like I mentioned, use Serebii or Bulbapedia or some other similar site to get your information on names.

**3.** Attack names and descriptions... Same as number two with the sites, but you may have to dig a little into the game animations or the Anime to find some of the information on attacks and moves and how they work in terms of look.

**4.** Ugh, levels and stats. Just don't use them, alright? Please, for my sanity don't use them! And by stats I mean numbered stats!

**5.** OK, now on to the big leagues. Grammar is up to bat first! We'll start with speech.

When you are typing speech, words such as "said", "exclaimed", "retorted", ect... Follow a comma at the end of the sentence, such as:

_"So, I see you have a Pikachu," he said._

Now, any other word that isn't like the ones above go like this:

_"So, I see you have a Pikachu." He smiled._

It can get a little tricky at times, but do the best you can with it.

The worst problem I see is with tenses. Past tense, present tense, and future tense. These bug me worse than those who write speech wrong! When you are writing a story, it is best to use the past tense as it reads much easier than present tense. Future tense also sounds better as well. Example of a bad use of tenses:

_He have to go there in a hurry to do his laundry so that he can hit the road soon._

Boy that hurt writing that! Now, let's fix this up!

_He had to go there in a hurry to do his laundry so that he could hit the road soon._

There, that sounds better doesn't it? Alternatively, you could also write it as this:

_He had to go there in a hurry to do his laundry so that he would be able to hit the road soon._

That sounds even better!

This isn't as big of a problem, but I do see it in some stories. It has to do with commas. Commas are used to give the reader a short break in between parts of a long sentence in the right areas. I see some stories that use them in the wrong areas and it infuriates me because it makes it hard to read. Here's an example of that:

_He had to wash his clothes in a nearby river, and hang them out to dry on a tree limb._

Not the greatest example, but it is really hard for me to come up with something like that. But it should read:

_He had to wash his clothes in a nearby river and hang them out to dry on a tree limb._

See? That sentence didn't need that comma in it! You are able to read it much better that way with a lack of a comma.

Speaking of a lack of commas, I see that problem as well. Give my brain a break once in a while won't you?

OK, now, on to spelling. All I can say is... Use Spellcheck. You also have to be careful of words such as "their", "they're", and "there". "Their" is a possessive pronoun indicating you own something, such as:

_Their shoes were soaking wet from being outside in the rain._

"They're" is a contraction of the words "they are". Example:

_They're sitting in the other room._ This would be without the contraction: _They are sitting in the other room._

"There" is an adverb indicating a place or calling attention to something. Examples:

_She went there to do her shopping._

_There she goes!_

There are a few other words like this, such as "were", "where", and "we're", so be careful of those as well.

As for descriptions, I think I made my point in part 1, but I do have to say this - you don't have to describe every action or motions something/someone does, but at least give us enough of a description so that we can imagine what is happening!

**6.** Like in part 1, just don't give last names to people who don't have them in the Anime, it looks like crap! Well, mostly giving characters last names that are their first names in Japanese. Ugh.

**7.** How can I possibly give you advice on timing and pacing of a Pokemon story... Well, the first thing you want to do is gather ideas in your head or written/typed down. This is before you ever write the story. The next thing you want to consider is where and when do you want these events to happen within your story? Spread them out over several chapters, don't just create a cluster-f*ck of stuff happening in 1-3 chapters.

I see a lot of Pokemon stories rush through things in the first chapter. Slow it down there cowboy! Take it slow and easy, build up to events. Of course you are more than welcome to start it off action-packed, but then slow it down. Think of a movie that does that. There are a lot of war movies that start off with the action right away.

Another way to spread things out is to be descriptive. It spreads out actions and what-not and can make things seem longer than they are.

**8.** Hoo boy, how to help one avoid writing a Mary Sue or Gary Stu in Pokemon... Well, the first thing you want to before even considering what their Pokemon should be, is to write down or think of faults that your character needs to have. Keep in mind that humans are not perfect creatures, so your character(s) shouldn't either. It is human nature to want to be perfect, so we tend to create characters that ARE perfect to make up for all our faults. Try to avoid this at all costs.

Here's a few ways to spot a Mary Sue or Gary Stu in your character:

- Your character is perfect in just about everything; from looks to personality.

- Your character has never lost a Pokemon battle in his/her life.

- Your character's Pokemon are capable of human speech (BIG RED FLAG HERE).

- Your character is super intelligent to the point of perfection. (Keep in mind your character can be intelligent, but try and keep away from Dexter or Jimmy Neutron intelligent characters if you can, unless they have faults that can make up for said intelligence).

- Your character's Pokemon are super powerful to the point of legendary status. Unless you can provide some background information on how they got that strong (whether through immense training or what have you), try and avoid this at all costs.

**9.** I'll provide you with some alternative words and phrases for the fan terms so you never have to use them again!

For "pseudo-legendary":

- Strong

- Naturally strong

- Powerful

- Naturally powerful

For "shiny":

- Alt

- Alternate

- Rare colored (or just color)

- Pigment mutation

- Genetically different

**10. **All I can say is... Avoid making shiny Pokemon more powerful than normal colored Pokemon. It's that easy!

**USER SUBMITTED IDEAS**

**Submitted by Oh I am Slain****:**

**1.** Avoid the intro that starts with a dark/grim Ash in present time, then go back in history to cover how this came to be during the next few chapters. This has started to become an overused plot device and should be avoided unless the author has a truly novel take on it.

**2.** Besides the 11-year-old Ash romance fics, also avoid writing the "Ash's long-term, caring friends suddenly betray him" fic. Quite a few of these out there, and they all tend to be a bit whiny, regardless of how well-intentioned the author was. If the author truly wants to write a betrayal fic, then the author needs to ensure that that the readers know that the fic is AU. With the history that Ash has had with his friends, sudden betrayal is just downright laughable.

**3.** Don't be afraid of making battles lopsided - Pokemon authors tend to make even the most powerful Pokemon take quite a few moves to knock out an obviously weaker Pokemon, for the sake of action and at the cost of plausibility. Certain types of attacks will inherently do huge damage to the opponent. Also, some Pokemon are just that much more powerful or prepared. And in real life, some Pokemon techniques become insanely useful, especially all the psychic techniques-make sure to have a way to address these in the fic.

**4.** If trying to write a realistic fic, don't be afraid of using the Pokemon weakness type chart as merely a rule of thumb, not as a scientific principle-just take a look at how weaknesses are used as guides, but not set-in-stone rules in the anime. For example, in a realistic fic, it's kind of a plot hole to say that steel attacks mysteriously do only half damage against water Pokemon, despite steel being, well, steel. Of course, that becomes OK if the author can come up with a kind of plausible scientific explanation for it, but most authors never do so.

**5.** Try to picture how the Pokemon would actually use the attack and describe that, instead of just saying a Pokemon used a certain attack. Rocks don't just mysteriously appear in midair and shoot at the opponent, unless if you provide a legitimate explanation. This description of the attacks will make battles both more engaging and allow for creative variation and combos. Also: in many beginner fics, two battling Pokemon seem to take the same amount of time to do each attack - authors shouldn't be afraid to take full creative license with battles and attacks instead of relying on the turn-based nature of battles in the Pokemon games. Random note: realistic battles shouldn't have Pokemon who wait for trainers to order to dodge.

**Submitted by Red's Pikachu:**

Many fanfics suffer with the problem of diction errors (this is something that writers have to pay attention to as Spellcheck does not always work). Common ones include, but are not limited to:

content and contempt  
it's and its  
there, their, and they're  
where, wear, were

Writers also must remember that they're writing a story; many authors often forget to write the verbs in past tense. Also, not all actions and dialogue take place in one giant wall of text; typically, each time a new person says something, that starts a new paragraph. Contractions are also not allowed in stories unless they show possession (ie. as in Red's Pikachu) or are part of a character's dialogue.

Sometimes, a writer can get so carried away that he/she ends up writing run-on sentences - break 'em up.

One thing that writers should do is read over their own work or get a beta to do it. Either one of them can pick up errors or awkward phrasing that was not seen during the write-up.

There's also the matter that Pokémon are using moves that they CANNOT use at all (not even from those special events); for example, I've seen in a couple of stories that a Magnezone can use Ice Beam, a move impossible for Magnezone to learn under ANY circumstance. Another tip that should be on the list is that any Pokémon fanfic writer should actually research the Pokémon that are to appear in the fanfic so as to check for types, abilities, MOVES, etc. Bulbapedia is a great site for descriptions of Pokémon as well as abilities and moves.

In general, author's notes can get very annoying (especially if they contain often snide commentary); in my opinion, they should go at the beginning or at the end of the chapter. A lot of author's notes seriously chop up whatever action is going on in the story or really put readers off (particularly if a chapter happens to be one measly author's note or an immature response to a flame review(s)).

Then, there is the concept of challenges. Having a challenge in the form of the story just shows that the author is lazy and is unable to write something with the given premise; rather, he/she wants somebody else to write the fanfic for him/her. Challenges should be either at the start or end of a story's chapter or on the writer's profile page or in a relevant community/forum page.

**End**

**A/N:** OK so, there we go! If you have any input or have ideas that I could add to this list, let me know and I will add them!


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